Congress voted to postpone the switch until June 12. The move is meant to address concerns that more than 6.5 million Americans with older TVs that only receive analog signals would not be ready by Feb. 17, the originally mandated deadline. That's after the DTV coverter box coupon program ran out of money, so there's a backlog on requests for $40 coupons.
The FCC has put together an interactive DTV signal map that allows you to check for the DTV signals that are available at your location. You just type in your address and voila! You get a listing of local TV stations and their predicted signal strength at your house. (Thanks to KFVS Director of Internet Development John Dissauer for bringing this site to my attention.)
I plugged in my address to find out how many strong, moderate or weak digital signals I'd get from over the air at my house. Thankfully, the KFVS signal comes in strong! However, I wouldn't let this map be the end all be all. Things like buildings, trees, terrain, or home construction can affect signal strength so your situation could be unique. Like me for example, I have a several of trees around my house so I'm not so convinced it's as easy as scanning my digital tuner to 12.1. If you see you're getting a weak or moderate signal, learn more about higher quality antennas.
Until then happy Big Switch day four months early.
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